They sentenced me to twenty years of boredomFor trying to change the system from within,

I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward themFirst we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'm guided by a signal in the heavensI'm guided by this birthmark on my skinI'm guided by the beauty of our weaponsFirst we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, babyI love your body and your spirit and your clothesBut you see that line there moving through the station?I told you, I told you, told you, I was one of those

Ah you loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might winYou know the way to stop me, but you don't have the disciplineHow many nights I prayed for this, to let my work beginFirst we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I don't like your fashion business misterAnd I don't like these drugs that keep you thinI don't like what happened to my sisterFirst we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I'd really like to live beside you, baby

And I thank you for those items that you sent meThe monkey and the plywood violinI practiced every night, now I'm readyFirst we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I am guided

Ah remember me, I used to live for musicRemember me, I brought your groceries inWell it's Father's Day and everybody's woundedFirst we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin…

Music video by Leonard Cohen performing First We Take Manhattan. (C) 1988 Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc.

* Note :There are rarely definitive answers to anything Leonard has written (and indeed it is the purpose of poetry to invoke feelings and moods in people, even if the actual images conjured are completely different from one person to the next. Leonard Norman Cohen, CC GOQ (born 21 September 1934) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet, and novelist. His work has explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality, and personal relationships. Cohen has been inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. In 2011, Cohen received a Prince of Asturias Award for literature.The critic Bruce Eder assessed Cohen's overall career in popular music by asserting that "[he is] one of the most fascinating and enigmatic … singer/songwriters of the late '60s … [and] has retained an audience across four decades of music-making … Second only to Bob Dylan (and perhaps Paul Simon) [in terms of influence], he commands the attention of critics and younger musicians more firmly than any other musical figure from the 1960s who is still working at the outset of the 21st century."The Academy of American Poets has commented more broadly on Cohen's overall career in the arts, including his work as a poet, novelist, and songwriter, stating that "[Cohen's] successful blending of poetry, fiction, and music is made most clear in Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs, published in 1993, which gathered more than 200 of Cohen's poems … several novel excerpts, and almost 60 song lyrics … While it may seem to some that Leonard Cohen departed from the literary in pursuit of the musical, his fans continue to embrace him as a Renaissance man who straddles the elusive artistic borderlines."

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wellcome on board

The great thing about poems is you get to take liberties with the facts and fiction or combinations of events. That way our memories can live on forever, that is what makes poems, stories and songs magic!